Standing in front of the soon-to-be-completed McLane Stadium, the cover encapsulates the new Baylor — the program that Briles has built into a Big 12 champion and continues to build into a national contender.

The headline, too, encapsulates that notion: "WORK OF ART: With a new stadium & a new swagger, Briles' Baylor is built to last".

“It was a slam-dunk pick for the cover this year,” Texas Football managing editor Greg Tepper said. “The cover of Texas Football always aspires to reflect the biggest story in the state that year, and there’s little doubt that the Bears are the biggest story in Texas. With the meteoric rise of the long-downtrodden program thanks in large part to consummate Texan Art Briles, plus a new stadium, Baylor is — for truly the first time — the football center of the Lone Star State.”

The cover is truly historic: it marks the first time since 1975 that Baylor alone commands the cover. Back then, it was head coach Grant Teaff.

Also on the cover: new Texas coach Charlie Strong, who begins his era at the helm of the Longhorns.

-Once again, the magazine is 400 pages — the largest football preview magazine of its kind.

-The magazine will also be available digitally through the DCTF App, available on iPad, iPhone, Android devices and Kindle.

-The cover story on the birth of the new Baylor under Art Briles is superbly written by Jason Cohen of Texas Monthly.

-The secondary feature on the concussion epidemic across Texas, specifically on the story of Houston quarterback David Piland, is penned by Ben Baby of the Denton Record-Chronicle.

-As always, the magazine features five pages of preview for each of the 12 FBS programs in the state – Baylor, Houston, North Texas, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas State, UTSA and UTEP.

-The magazine also has extensive previews on every sub-FBS team in the state – from the state's eight FCS programs to Division II, Division III, junior colleges and prep academies.

-Dave Campbell's Texas Football maintains its place as the authority on Texas high school football, previewing more than 1,400 high school teams — including every public high school in the state and a bigger-than-ever private schools section.

-The book also features expanded high school rankings, players to watch, preseason All-State teams, coverboys and more for every classification – from the new Class 6A all the way down to Class 1A (six-man football).

-DCTF’s widely respected recruiting section is back, anchored by longtime recruiting analyst Randy Rodgers. More than 20 pages of recruiting info, from the legendary DCTF Super Team to the top 300 recruits in the state for the class of 2015 (and beyond) to our annual four-year recruiting review.

All in all, it's the biggest, best edition of the bible of Texas football yet, and a must-have for all true football fans. Remember: you can reserve your copy now or subscribe, or pick it up on shelves across Texas starting June 20.

Cover Fun Facts

-Art Briles is the fourth Baylor coach to be on the cover of DCTF, joining John Bridgers (1964), Grant Teaff (1975) and Chuck Reedy (1996).

-Bryce Petty and Antwan Goodley are the first Baylor players to be on the cover since Walter Abercrombie in 1981. Petty is the first Baylor quarterback and Goodley the second Baylor wide receiver, to be on the cover — previous BU players were Ronnie Bull (running back, 1961), Lawrence Elkins (wide receiver, 1964), Mike Singletary (linebacker, 1980) and Abercrombie (running back, 1981).

-Briles is the first DCTF coverboy to coach both high school and college football in Texas since Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes (1990 and 1996).

Be sure to watch Fox Sports Southwest's "Under The Lights" at 10 p.m. tonight for an in-depth look at the magazine with DCTF managing editor Greg Tepper, as well as Randy Rodgers' exclusive announcement of the DCTF Super Team.

Check out TexasFootball.com for a new edition of the DCTF Podcast in which managing editor Greg Tepper and associate editor EJ Holland discuss the cover as well as other topics from around the state.

Please remember that you are responsible for the content you post on
texasfootball.com. Any content containing profanity, personal attacks,
antisocial behavior, or is otherwise inappropriate will be removed from
our website. Users who fail to abide by these guidelines may be
permanently banned. The comments/ideas shared in the Facebook commenting
system do not reflect the views of Dave Campbell¹s Texas Football.

If you would like to report inappropriate behavior within the Facebook
commenting system, please email subservice@texasfootball.com and we will
review your request.

WaterCooler Talk

I started collecting Texas Football when I was 12. I have every issue. All are signed by Dave Campbell except the last two. I hope he comes to San Antonio on his promotional tour so I can get those tw...Martin ,